Death's Choice
By Ammie Hawk
Disclaimer: Still don't own.
AN: This chapter goes out to Yanna_of_the_Forest and CaffinatedGremlin(CoffeeFlower) of AO3 for suggesting and cultivating this idea, which is now running rampant through my head.
Chapter 5: Imaginary Tookas
Things quickly fell into a routine for Harry. His days started with first-meal with whichever squad he had spent the night with. From there, he would join the cadets for their morning lessons, and while he couldn't exactly keep up with them he wasn't that far behind. After that, he would join Rex or Kote, usually both, for second-meal. He would then be handed off to Ninety Nine, where he would spend the afternoon on a datapad doing his lessons in languages, both Basic and Mando'a, mathematics, astronavigation, and conceptual engineering and mechanics. Sometimes the older man would procure him a droid or some other tech so he could actually practice the latter. Then he would go to late-meal and it would be decided where he would spend the night.
Two weeks passed by in this fashion. Sometimes Boba would show up during weapons training but it wasn't too often. Though, every time he did show up, Fordor would put him in charge of helping Harry. They weren't hostile toward each other, but they had their banter. Boba was bossy and Harry would come back with sarcasm or some other snippy remark.
One day, while he was sitting in the corner of a lower level working through his lessons with Ninety Nine across the large open area working on a mechanical panel of some sort, a grate opened in the wall beside him. Wary green eyes darted over at the sound as a head of slightly curly black hair popped out. The newcomer's gaze quickly swept the room before coming to land on Harry.
"Hey, Nehutyc," a grin split Boba's face, even as he kept his voice low, "there you are!"
"What did you just call me?" he hissed in reply, his childish lisp having disappeared the more he studied in his languages.
"Never mind that," the other waved idly. "Come on."
"I can't," he shook his head as his gaze drifted across the room.
"Ninety Nine is busy," brown eyes rolled in annoyance. "And from the looks of it, it's gonna be a while. Come on, I don't have all day."
Harry hesitated for several moments, looking frantically back and forth between Boba and Ninety Nine. He knew he should stay. This was the schedule Rex and Kote had come up with for him, and he really didn't want to disappoint them or give them a reason to send him away. But his current lessons were boring and he really wanted to see what the other boy was up to. With one final look in the man's direction, he slipped the datapad into his pocket and scrambled into the vent.
He followed the older boy silently as he led them through the narrow tunnel. He was dying to ask where they were going, but he didn't want them to get caught either. So he held his tongue as Boba led them around two corners and through an upper hatch before coming to a stop in an open junction.
"So why did you drag me here, Boba?" he asked as they settled in against the wall.
"There was no dragging, Nehutyc," the other scoffed. "Besides, I had some free time so I figured I'd come find you."
"Why do you keep calling me that?"
"Well, you're a shiny," he shrugged. "Figured you didn't have a name yet, thought I'd give you one. And Nehutyc fits."
"I have a name," green eyes stared at him incredulously. "You just never asked."
"Well, what is it?" the older boy pressed.
"Harry."
"Yeah, see, I like Nehutyc better," the other frowned. "Anyway, is this what you normally do, or did you get in trouble?"
"Not in trouble," he grumbled quietly. "I always spend the afternoons with Ninety Nine, doing my lessons."
"Why aren't you with the other cadets?" Boba threw him a confused look.
"I—I can't," his eyes widened in fear and began darting around for the nearest escape.
"Can't what?"
"I—I can't tell you," he shook his head adamantly.
"Hey, hey, calm down," the other held up his hands placatingly. "I won't tell anyone. I do know how to keep a secret. I mean, unless its life or death and then I'd tell my dad, but he would put a stop to it."
"No," Harry grabbed his arm. "You have to swear you won't tell anyone."
"Okay, okay, I swear," Boba gave in with a wince at the other's grip. "Not even my dad. Now, you gonna tell me what's going on?"
"Fine," he released him and raked his hands through his hair, pulling at it slightly. "Fine. I'm not… I'm not like you and the others."
"Well, no one's like me," the older boy's chest puffed up slightly with pride. "But duh! You're scrawny, and you look different, but dad says it happens. No matter how hard the Kaminoans try they can't weed it out. Like blond hair, it's in his DNA, his sister had blond hair."
"No," he shook his head. "It's not like that. I'm not like you. Rex and Kote found me. They said no one can know I'm here, unless they already know. It's not safe."
"But that…" Boba scowled. "It doesn't make any sense."
"I don't know," the younger boy shrugged helplessly. "I don't get it. But… but I can't let them down. They could get in trouble if anyone found out."
"Okay, fine, it's our secret, I promise," the other sighed. "Ya know, I didn't bring you here so you could freak out on me."
"They why did you bring me here?"
"Right," he reached into his pockets and pulled out two large handfuls of small, brightly colored packets. "My dad brought it back last time he went out and I finally managed to break the lock. Figured I'd share."
"What is it?" Harry eyed the pile curiously.
"Its candy," brown eyes rolled in mild exasperation. "It's really good. Just try it."
The two of sat there for almost an hour, talking, laughing, and working their way through the sweets. They finally parted ways and Harry made his way back to the room he'd come from, where Ninety Nine was still working away at the panel. He settled back into his corner and pulled out his datapad to continue his work, a happy grin plastered on his face that he couldn't quite get rid of.
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Boba made his way back to the apartment with an extra bounce to his step and a bit of a sugar high. He had actually had fun with Harry. Though that name wasn't gonna work for him. It was boring and didn't fit him at all, not like Nehutyc did. And, seriously, if that was the best Rex and Kote could come up with then they needed work too.
Truthfully, though, he hadn't actually sought the other boy out. He had gone to the lower levels looking to escape Taun We and enjoy his stolen treat in peace. But as soon as he'd seen him, he had the insane urge to invite him along. It was one thing for him to wander off on his own, but it was absolutely forbidden for him to take one of the clones with him. The thrill of breaking that one rule made him want to do it all the more.
But he had actually enjoyed it. After the initial break down, they had managed to trade stories and joke around, all while working their way through his pilfered sweets. And the fact that he had to keep it a secret just made whatever it was between them even better.
A grin stretched its way across his features as he opened the door to the apartment. The smile immediately fell, however, as he stepped inside and his eyes landed on the figure of his father leaning against the open doorway at the end of the hall, his arms crossed and his posture deceptively calm. He gulped audibly as he realized that he was in so much trouble.
"Boba," the deep voice was level, but he still flinched as if he shouted.
"Uh, hi, dad," he said weakly.
"Taun We said you disappeared on her."
"Yeah, well," he stammered slightly, "you see… there was this… tooka?"
"A tooka?" a single brow rose dubiously.
"Yeah, a tooka," he nodded, committing more fully to the lie.
"Uh huh," the other brow joined its twin. "And what exactly did this tooka look like?"
"Well," he hesitated briefly, "it was small, with black, um… fur, and green eyes."
Boba knew, had been told by none other than the man in front of him, that the best way to sell any lie was to add in an element of truth. And, honestly, if his dad didn't know about Nehutyc yet then he'd never find out.
"A small, black tooka with green eyes?"
"Yep," he nodded, and maybe it was time to go for broke. "It broke into the candy and stole all of if, so I had to chase it down."
"It stole all the candy?" at his nod, he continued, "And where is this tooka now?"
"It disappeared."
"Boba," his father shook his head and jerked his thumb over his shoulder, "go do your lessons. I'll deal with you later. And if I find out you've left these rooms again before I get back you will not be leaving them for a month, understood?"
"Yes, sir," he bowed his head and shuffled passed his father.
888888
Jango Fett considered himself to be a patient man. He kinda had to be in his line of work. One didn't become the best bounty hunter in the galaxy by not being patient. But his son was seriously wearing that patience thin.
When Taun We had interrupted his lesson with the command class to inform him Boba had disappeared, he had been beyond frustrated. He had immediately put Kote in charge of the class and went off in search of his son.
Now it wasn't uncommon for Boba to sneak off, quite the opposite actually. Oh, he knew about the arrangement the boy had with the alpha clones about sitting in on the cadet classes, and he truly didn't care. As long as Boba didn't disrupt the lessons or distract the cadets, it was not a problem. It gave the kid a chance to stretch his wings and interact with others, and it got him out of his hair for a few hours. It was a win-win.
No, what had set him off was that Boba knew better than to get caught sneaking off when he was left in the care of one of the Kaminoans. Those fucking long necks were constantly on his ass to keep a better reign on his son. They claimed he was a bad influence on the other clones. Banthashit in his opinion. He was the worst influence on the entire planet and they actually encouraged him to interact with them.
So, he had returned to the quarters and waited. It didn't take long for the kid to finally show up. He had planned to scold him for being sloppy and then spend the next few hours going over his lessons with him, since he was obviously bored and needed some quality one on one time. All that was blown to hell and back, however, when Boba arrived and gave some cock and bull story about a tooka.
Now, Jango Fett was not stupid. He could read between the lines as well as, if not better than, anyone else. And what he had gotten from his son's story was that he'd managed to break the lock on the candy drawer, and good for him, and had snuck off to enjoy his spoils. However, along the way he had met up with someone and decided to share. Which, also, good for him, making friends. But unfortunately, he now had to nip it in the bud before it got back to the Kaminoans, because he would not let this endanger Boba or the clone in question. Though, he was unaware of any of them having green eyes, but he did know one person who would.
"Seventeen," he called the man's attention as soon as he reached the training room he was currently teaching in. "A word."
"Of course," the alpha clone nodded. "7567 take over."
The blond moved to the front of the room as Alpha-17 made his way out to the hall where Jango waited.
"What do you want, Prime?" the younger male asked, leaning against the wall just outside the door.
A smirk tugged at the corners of his mouth. Out of all the clones, he appreciated the brashness and candor of the alphas the most. They were the most like him in attitude and temperament, while still maintaining their own individual personalities.
"Straight to the point then," he shook his head slightly. "You missing any cadets?"
"Not that I'm aware of," the other frowned. "Why?"
"Boba wandered off today," he mirrored the other and propped his foot against the wall behind him, getting a bit more comfortable.
"Not unusual," Alpha snorted.
"No," his eyes narrowed slightly. "What is unusual is that he said he was following a tooka."
"There are no tookas on Kamino."
"I know," Jango scoffed. "Best I can figure, he ran into a cadet and dragged them into whatever mischief he was up to."
"I see," the other nodded. "As I said, haven't heard anything but I'll keep an ear out."
"I'll talk to Boba," he sighed and pushed off the wall. "You know I don't want any trouble for you or the others."
"I know," Alpha agreed. "If that is all…?"
"Yeah," he waved him off, but paused before the other opened the door. "Oh, before I forget, you know any cadets with green eyes?"
A carefully blank expression fell over the younger man's face, "No, sir."
Yeah, Jango wasn't stupid, and he knew his own tells and facial expressions very well, especially given his close proximity to millions of it in the past decade. Alpha definitely knew something he wasn't willing to share. And if Alpha knew something that Boba also knew, it was likely that some, if not all, of the other clones did as well. Well, they'd be easy enough to crack. He was the best bounty hunter in the galaxy after all and he would get to the bottom of this.
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Harry crawled quietly through the vents toward the training rooms that had been closed down for the day so Ninety Nine could fix a few things. It had been almost three weeks since Boba had first invited him to share in his wanderings, and while they didn't meet up every day it was pretty close. He actually liked spending time with the older boy. Yeah, he was bossy and a bit of an asshole, but underneath all that he was mischievous and funny, especially when he told stories. They had almost been caught during their second foray when they had dissolved into peals of laughter as Boba told him how he'd gotten away with stealing the candy by blaming it on a tooka.
Underneath all that though, Harry could tell he was lonely, just like he was. And he figured they could be lonely together, and maybe for those brief moments they didn't have to be. Not that that made any sense.
He shook his head as he reached his exit point. As silently as he could, so as not to alert his minder, he slipped the grate open and scurried back into the room. He had just managed to fit the grate back in place when something happened he did not expect.
"Harry!"
Wide green eyes flew upward to find the source. There, standing about twenty feet away, were Rex and Kote. The two men hurried over and the blond reached out and pulled him to his feet before crouching down in front of him.
"Where did you go?" brown eyes skimmed hurriedly over him. "Ninety Nine said you disappeared."
"I…" he hesitated.
He hadn't thought about getting caught. Yeah, they had laughed about it when it happened to Boba, but it never occurred to him that it would happen to him.
"I…" he started again. "Well, you see…" wait, he had the perfect thing, thanks to Boba, "there was a tooka…"
"There are no tookas on Kamino," Kote interjected firmly.
Wait, what? He blinked owlishly at the brunet. But… Boba… Had the older boy just been stringing him along? Had he been laughing at him this whole time?
No, no, Boba was his friend. He wouldn't do that. He couldn't have known. His dad probably just indulged him. Parents did that with their kids, right?
"I… I'm sorry," he sniffed back tears, now he was going to get in trouble.
"You're not in trouble, Harry," Rex wrapped his arms around the boy and pulled him close. "We're just glad you're back. But you don't have to lie to us."
"You shouldn't lie to us," the other added. "But for now, Rex is right, you're not in trouble. But you can't just wander off like that. It's not safe."
A frown marred Harry's features, "But I'm fine. I don't get hurt."
"And we're glad about that," Kote shook his head, "but your safety isn't just about you getting hurt. You could've been caught and then we couldn't do anything to help you."
"I don't get caught."
"But you could," the blond sighed. "And if no one knows where you are, we wouldn't be able to find you in time."
"Harry," Kote's hand came to rest on his shoulder, as he knelt down beside Rex, "we chose people we trusted to watch over and protect you in our absence, but for them to be able to do their jobs you have to stay with them, understood?"
"Yes, sir," he bowed his head.
"Good," the brunet nodded. "Rex," he turned his attention to the other man, "take Harry back with you, Alpha won't mind his presence too much. I'll comm Ninety Nine on my way back to my own training. But we need to hurry or I'll be missed."
"Right," the blond exhaled slowly. "Come on, Harry."
He carefully pushed to his feet, holding the boy to his chest. They didn't carry him everywhere, he'd actually insisted on it. Except in the mornings, he tended to be very clingy when he was tired. But right now, Rex didn't care. He'd been worried sick ever since Ninety Nine reported he was gone, the worst possible scenarios playing on repeat through his head.
They exited the training room and made their way back to where they were supposed to be. Kote split off a couple hallways along. When he finally reached his destination, he slipped in and settled Harry against the wall before rejoining the training.
"So," Alpha's quiet voice sounded behind him, almost causing him to jump, "where was he?"
"He came out of the vents in the training room," the blond answered just as quietly.
"And why was he in the vents?"
"He didn't exactly say, sir," he sighed. "Though, he did try and give us some excuse about following a tooka."
The older male stared at him for a moment before throwing his head back and almost cackling with laughter. All eyes, not only Rex's, turned curiously to the alpha. He wordlessly waved them off, indicating they should get back to their training.
"Sir?" Rex's confusion rang through the single word.
"Sorry," Alpha took a deep, steadying breath, but a few chuckles still slipped through. "This is not the first time I've heard of a tooka running around Kamino recently. And I bet if you asked him, he'd say the tooka's name is Boba."
"Boba?" the blond stared at him in disbelief. "You're saying he's been sneaking off with Boba? I don't know if that makes me feel better or worse."
"Relax," Alpha placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "At least we know if he's hanging out with Boba he's not likely to get caught."
"I suppose," Rex let out a reluctant sigh.
"Don't confront him about it yet," the older male continued. "Let's wait and see how this plays out. It might be good for both of them. Besides, Prime is already suspicious after he confronted Boba, we don't want to draw any more undue attention."
"Of course, sir," he couldn't help but agree. He may not like it, but if it was in Harry's best interest he would do anything.
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Kote slipped quietly and, he hoped, unobtrusively into the back of the training room his squad was currently using. His reappearance didn't seem to draw any undue attention, for which he was greatly relieved. Though, Wolffe did shoot him an inquiring sidelong glance, to which he gave a nonverbal confirmation that Harry was alright.
"CC-2224."
Shit. Prime only used his designation if they were under observation by the long necks or he was pissed. Neither alternative was exactly good in this instance.
"Sir?"
"Care to explain where you disappeared to?" he made his way over to where Kote was standing at attention.
Well, damn. He couldn't exactly tell him about Harry, not that he wanted to anyway. And he definitely couldn't say he went off with Rex. That would get both of them in trouble. But he had to come up with something quick.
"Chasing tookas, sir."
Damn it, Harry! He was done for. He wasn't even going to be decommissioned. Prime was going to shoot him where he stood, in front of his entire squad.
"A tooka?" a dark brow rose incredulously. "On Kamino?"
"Apparently, sir," well, he may as well commit to it now.
"Let me guess," Prime held up his hand, "small, black fur, green eyes?"
Kote couldn't help the instinctual stiffening of his posture, that sounded like a loose description of Harry, "Sir?"
The older man's eyes narrowed as he caught the movement, "Can you explain to me how this tooka could have possibly come to be on Kamino?"
"Couldn't say, sir," that, at least, was true.
"Hmm," the other made a thoughtful noise low in his throat. "Well, Kote, I expect to be kept apprised of any more tooka sightings. Understood?"
"Yes, sir," he replied automatically, though it was one order he had no intention of actually following.
Ammie: Yay! Jango has finally made an actual appearance. So, this chapter was fun and difficult to write at the same time, but hey, it happens. Anyway, please let me know what you think.